Patent Application
20060129479
The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce and, more specifically, to a method and system for auction trading.
The prior art includes a variety of online marketplaces, including a variety of auction-based marketplaces, which have reduced or eliminated several obstacles to efficient markets. As an example, online markets have largely reduced the impact of “geographic separation.” For instance, a baseball card collector in California can use an appropriate online marketplace to purchase a baseball card from a collector in Florida without necessitating the buyer and seller to engage in face-to-face or telephonic contact. As a result, each buyer is provided with exposure to a greater number of potential sellers, and vice-versa. As a result, improved competition is achieved, providing more economically fair pricing and greater availability of desired goods and services.
However, the prior art has failed to overcome certain other obstacles. In particular, the prior art does not address the obstacle of “time separation” between transactions. For instance, if Participant A sells to Participant B in a first transaction, Participant B is required to pay Participant A before entering into a second transaction in which Participant B will sell to Participant C. Thus, Participant B is unable to use the proceeds of the second transaction to pay for his participation in the first transaction.
Some participants independently overcome the “time separation” obstacle by funding purchase transactions with debt financing obtained independently of the online marketplace, such as may be obtained through a credit card, and paying down the debt financing using the proceeds of a subsequent sale transaction.
It would be desirable for an online marketplace to enable participants to overcome the obstacle of “time separation” by funding a buy transaction with proceeds from a subsequent sale transaction.
Provided is a method for auction trading which enables transactions to be time shifted. A first sale transaction of a first participant selling to a second participant for a first price is processed. A second sale transaction of the second participant selling to a third participant for a second price is processed. If the second price is greater than the first price, a portion of the second price corresponding to the first price is paid to the first participant and the remainder of the second price is paid to the second participant. Otherwise, if the second price is less than the first price, the second price is paid to the first participant.
Also provided is a system for auction trading, including a computing system adapted to receive signals carrying parameters for sale transactions and computer-readable instructions stored on the computing system for performing the above-described process.
Also provided is a process for auction trading which facilitates a first participant's sale transaction to a second participant. A financial account is created on a computing system, if said account does not exist. A first participant's sale transaction to a second participant for a first price is provided. A second participant's sale transaction to another participant for another price is provided. Proceeds of the second participant's sale transaction are electronically transferred into the account. From the same account, funds are electronically transferred to the first participant up to the first price.
Also provided is a method for providing services to customers over a network. A first sale transaction of a first customer selling to a second customer for a first price is processed. A second sale transaction of the second customer selling to a third customer for a second price is processed. If the second price is greater than the first price, A portion of the second price corresponding to the first price is paid to the first customer and the remainder of the second price is paid to the second customer. Otherwise, the second price is paid to the first customer.
In the method for providing services, after the first customer has received the first price, the first sale transaction can be fulfilled by the first customer. The remainder of the second price can be paid to the second customer electronically. The second price can be paid to the first customer electronically. The portion of the second price corresponding to the first price can be paid to the first customer electronically. The first sale transaction of the first customer selling to the second customer for the first price can be processed by a
computing device. The second sale transaction of the second customer selling to the third customer for the second price can be processed by a computing device.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
Although described with particular reference to a networked system, the claimed subject matter can be implemented in any information technology (IT) system in which time shifting within a marketplace is desirable. Those with skill in the computing arts will recognize that the disclosed embodiments have relevance to a wide variety of computing environments in addition to those described below. In addition, the methods of the disclosed invention can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The hardware portion can be implemented using specialized logic; the software portion can be stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system such as a microprocessor, personal computer (PC) or mainframe.
In the context of this document, a “memory” or “recording medium” can be any means that contains, stores, communicates, propagates, or transports the program and/or data for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. Memory and recording medium can be, but are not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, apparatus or device. Memory and recording medium also includes, but is not limited to, for example the following: a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), and a portable compact disk read-only memory or another suitable medium upon which a program and/or data may be stored.
Also within the context of this document, a “sale transaction” means any transaction or collection of related transactions entitling one participant (the “seller”) to a reasonably prompt payment or payments from another participant (the “buyer”). The form of payment can include anything of value, although limited by the terms of a particular sale transaction, including, by way of example, currency, credit to account, account receivable, goods, financial instruments, real estate, and leases. The terms of a sale transaction will likely be determined by the governing law, marketplace rules, and buyer-seller agreement. A seller “sells” to a buyer via a sale transaction. As a practical matter, the subject matter of a sale transaction can be anything; subject matter examples include goods, financial instruments, real estate, and leases.
Also within the context of this document, the term “paying” means providing value, including for example, providing currency or electronic funds transfer.
Turning now to the figures,
If the second price is greater than the first price, Participant A receives 118 the first price from Participant C, and Participant B receives 120 the difference between the first and second prices. If the first and second prices are equal, Participant A simply receives 118 the first price from Participant C.
The third participant 124C pays 129A the first participant 124A the lesser of the first and second prices. In addition, if the second price is less than the first price, the second participant 124B pays 129B the first participant 124A the difference between the first and second prices. Alternately, if the second price exceeds the first price, the third participant 124C pays 129C the second participant 124B the difference between the first and second prices.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, an alternate embodiment provides that proceeds corresponding to multiple sale transactions by Participant B can be added to the account until the Participant A is fully reimbursed for the first sale transaction. Preferably, the financial account established for accumulating the proceeds of one or more Participant B sale transaction is not “owned” by Participant B, at least in the sense that Participant B lacks the ability and legal right to withdraw funds from the account at least until the first price is paid to Participant A. Furthermore, it is preferable that the proceeds of Participant B's sale transactions remain completely free of Participant B's possession until Participant A has been fully paid for the first sale transaction. Accordingly, it is preferable that the proceeds of Participant B's sale transactions be deposited directly into the financial account by the other participant(s) instead of being given to Participant B.
In the embodiment disclosed in
In embodiments of methods for providing services to customers, customers of such embodiments can correspond to participants of other embodiments.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, including but not limited to additional, less or modified elements and/or additional, less or modified blocks performed in the same or a different order. For example, restrictions on a particular participant's trading activity may be imposed to reduce the likelihood that the participant will fail to meet the terms of time shifted sale transactions which have already been agreed. As another example, marketplace rules may prohibit or restrict the terms of time shift purchasing of certain items, such as those bearing a “reserve” price.
